Intonation on Blueridge BR-60T

[lubiehotdogi]

Hi all,

A few days back (not Christmas though) I was given a brand new Blueridge BR-60T as a gift. The build quality seems to be perfect and I really like the way it sounds, resonates and so on.

However, after a more closer inspection, I noticed that it suffers a bit from poor intonation. Despite the fact that on open strings the sounds are spot on, when pressed on the frets the sounds go sharp. I sort of figured out how to tune it, so that melodies and some chords sound ok (what I mean is I drop each string a bit, which gives me more or less proper sounds on frets but I sacrifice those on open strings).

My wife, who gave it to me, knew exactly what I wanted and she asked people at the store to restring it to GDAE. I am about to email them and ask what gauges they used, because I can't tell by looking at them. I am saying this because (a wild guess) I was wondering if improper string gauges might be the cause of the poor intonation. One more thing, I noticed that when I press the string a bit harder down the neck the sound goes up, as if I was bending.

I am about to order other string sets to do some experimenting. I am thinking D'Addario EJ66 Tenor Guitar ( I don't care if they are CGDA, as long as they fix it) and D’Addario EJ80.

Returning the guitar is out of question and I am determined to improve it as much as I can, and I would like to ask about any suggestions what to look into or what to do to fix it. Any feedback is much appreciated.

[kurth83]

Pressing too hard will bend sharp, but typically is more pronounced near the nut where the frets are farther apart.

Try fretting just behind the fret and see if that helps, heavier strings and better technique are the usual fixes for this issue.

If it is still high at the nut, it is also possible the nut might be too high. If it is sharp everywhere, especially up the neck, then maybe the bridge needs to be adjusted.

The short answer is usually setup... Then technique (fretting properly) and strings.

You didn't mention if this is your first guitar-like object. On mandolin we are used to pressing a bit harder than a single-string-per-course instrument would need, and mandolin frets are so close together it is hard to bend anything sharp.

A micrometer would measure string widths, I bought one since I sometimes forget what I put on.

If you put on a 20 lb set for the scale length, and correct any setup issues, likely it will play in tune just fine.

It's a 22 7/8 scale, I went to string tension pro and it is down!!!! temporarily... so I can't easily guess at what strings you would need.

[Seonachan]

Bad intonation can have several causes. Is the sharpness and "bending" effect most acute at the first few frets? If so, the first thing I would check is the nut slots. If they are too high, that will cause exactly the problem you are describing.

The way to tell if the nut slots need adjusting is to hold each string down at the 3rd fret, then press each string at the 1st fret until it touches. If the string is already touching the 1st fret before you press down, then the slots are probably too low (unlikely in your case from what you describe, but if true probably points to another problem). If you notice movement while pressing at the 1st fret - like if you really see the string moving as opposed to just feeling it move a hair, then they're probably too high. If they just barely move and you can't really see much up & down motion while pressing, they're about right.

Of course it could be a nut problem AND one or more other issues - high saddle, excessive neck relief, improper neck angle, bowed/warped neck, bad frets/fret seating. I recommend having a good luthier check it out, if there's one handy to you. They can diagnose all these issues pretty quickly.

[Monte Barnett]

My BR-40T arrived in the same state as yours. The nut slots need to be deeper, the bridge saddle is likely too high, and the neck relief might be off. It just needs a proper setup, as indicated above. Learning how to do this will serve you well. You can get *most* of the info you need by sending an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy of his ebook for free (free to all mandolincafe members). Nearly any question you might have can be answered by someone on the Cafe’. For strings, I’m using D’Addario singles (42w, 32w, 23w, 14p in phosphor bronze/plain steel) on my BR-40T tuned GDAE.

Hope this helps :)

[Chip Stewart]

I love my BR-60T but it needed a professional setup badly when I bought it. I use Chicago tuning (DGBE). Even after the setup the B string is a few cents sharp at the 12th fret. I compensate by tuning the open B string a few cents flat. Not even a trained musician can differentiate the difference in sound of just a few cents.

I would strongly recommend determining what strings you would like to use and then have the guitar professionally setup for those strings. I have no doubt you'll love the BR-60T after you do.

[fox]

Lovely guitars, good set up and some string choice experiments will see you very happy once all sorted.
The Blueridge can take quite heavy strings if that is your thing but for GDAE I would recommend buying single guitar strings in 12p 20w 30w 45w for a nice feel, easy play set.

[lubiehotdogi]

Thank you all for your suggestions and tips. I didn't expect to get so many answers.

I have tried playing the guitar by putting my fingers much closer to the frets, as opposed to pressing the string "in the middle" and the bending-like effect was gone. I also agree that this may have partially been caused by the fact that I don't own any other guitar and after years of playing mandolin I have been pressing too hard. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah, I am guessing going to a luthier would be the best option (in fact, that's how I got my Kentucky properly mandolin set up), but because of the COVID restrictions I must hold off until the situation is a bit more stable where I live.

I will try checking the guitar more tomorrow for what Seonachan suggested and will let you guys know about what I find out. Also, I will get in touch with Rob Meldrum about the guide. Most probably I won't try doing anything drastic on a brand new guitar but it's sounds like something worth having anyway.

To be honest, I am surprised how hard I am finding the transition from a mandolin to a tenor. I don't even mean wider frets as much as getting used to a new (sitting) position and holding the guitar. I believe this was to be expected, though : )